Columbia, MO – Austin Peay State University men’s golf team didn’t achieve the finish it was seeking but the Governors were able to claim third place at the Columbia Regional Preview, held at The Club of Old Hawthorne.

The Governors shot a final-round 300 that left them at 870 overall. Host Missouri, playing on their home course, won the event with an 852 while Iowa State, which shot a day-best 280, finished second at 857. San Francisco was fourth (876) and Tulsa fifth (879).

Austin Peay Men’s Golf. (APSU Sports Information)

“We kind of struggled today,” APSU coach Kirk Kayden said. “We just didn’t quite execute our second shots today. It was a situation where the pins were in difficult position during the final round as you usually will see.

“We were just not hitting the correct tier of the green. So when you do that at Old Hawthorne you are going to run into some three putts because you have to go over mounds and swales. You have trouble getting close to the hole. That seemed to be one of the issues we ran into today.

“You also have to give Iowa State credit. They had a tremendous round to pass us.”

After seeing four players shoot 2-under in Monday’s second round and a fifth finish at even par, APSU failed to have one player break par, Tuesday. Anthony Bradley had APSU’s best round, shooting 1-over 73 for a 215, tying him for ninth. Fellow senior Marco Iten was at 3-over 75 to finish at 216 while sophomores Chris Baker and Austin Kramer had 76s on the day while senior Trey Tarpley, after a strong Monday, slipped to 78 in the final round. Playing as an individual junior Tucker Wallace shot a second straight 74 for the Governors.

“Our effort was good,” Kayden said. “But we didn’t quite manage the golf course like we needed to to stay in there against a field like this.

“Like I told the guys, I am still pretty pleased with our finish—third out of 11 in a quality field you just can’t be upset about that. We beat some teams that probably are going to be in the NCAA Regional in the spring. That’s an encouraging start to the year. Encouraging finish but certainly not what our goal was.”

It was the Governors’ first fall tournament while several teams in the field already had one tourney under their belts. Getting back to college tourney mindset after playing individually much of the offseason certainly was a different challenge for the APSU players.

“I think what they guys took from this tournament is when you are in a final-round, final-pairing situation you have to step it up mentally, emotionally and physically more than we did on the last day,” Kayden said. “When you play a 36-hole day like we did yesterday—it’s a long day—and you have to get up early the next day and have to bring the same intensity that you brought the previous day. That is something we have to do a better job of.”

Box Score

Columbia Regional Preview
The Club at Old Hawthorne
Columbia, MO
Championship TeesDates: September 16th-17th